Shoe and method of manufacturing shoes



March 10, 1936. G GQDDU 2,033,239

7 SHOE AND METHOD OF MANUFACTURING SHOES Filed July 15, 1932 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 March 10, 1936.

e. GODDU 2,033,239

SHOE AND METHOD OF MANUFACTURING SHOES Filed July 15, 1932 v 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Patented Mar. 10, 1936 STATES SHOE AND METHOD or MANUFACTURING SHOES George Goddu, deceased, late of Winchester,

Mass., by Isabelle W. Goddu, executrix, Winchester, Mass.,

assignor to The Littleway Process Company, Boston, Mass., a company of Massachusetts Application July 15, 1932, Serial No. 622,691

9 Claims.

This invention relates to improvements in shoes and the manufacture thereof and is illustrated herein with respect to the manufacture of a shoe the bottom of which, at the heel seat portion as well as the shank and forepart, is free from metallic or other driven fastenings.

Letters Patent of the United States Nos. 1,932,544 and 1,932,545, granted October 31, 1933, and No. 2,017,856, granted October 22, 1935, on applications filed in the name of George Goddu, disclose novel methods by which shoes may be manufactured with their shanks and foreparts free from metallic fastenings, the shoe uppers being secured in lasted relation to the insole at the shank and forepartby cement and the outsole secured either by cement or stitching.

It is an object of the present invention to provide for the manufacture of shoes in such a manner that the heel seat portion as well as the shank and forepart may be lasted, the outsole attached at the heel seat, and a heel attached without the presence in the finished shoe of metallic or other driven fastenings. Thus the invention avoids the shoemaking difficulties heretofore often met with resulting from a heel attaching nail striking andbeing deflected by one of the sole attaching nails (commonly spoken of as heel seat nails) or from one of the sole attaching nails striking a lasting tack and being deflected thereby, with a consequent weakening of the holding power-of the deflected and crippled nail and the possibility of further damage to the shoe. The invention, moreover, provides shoes the heel seat portions of the insoles of which are smooth and free from methe illustrated heel may be securely attached withtallic fastenings thus eliminating a common source of annoyance to the wearer.

The shoe illustrated herein is provided with a wood heel, though the invention is applicable also in various of its aspects to the manufacture of shoes having heels of other types. In order that out the presence of metallic fastenings, the peripheral portion of its attaching face, including, if a covered heel, that portion of the heel cover which overlies the attaching face of the heel, is

roughened orotherwise suitably prepared for the .reception of cement. The overlasted marginal roughened and the heel portion of the outsole may be similarly treated, if necessary, after the heel seat fitting operation has been performed. In the illustrated exemplification of the invention, the heel seat portion of the outsole is cement attached at the same time as the shank and forepart. Then the heel is cement attached tg the shoe, preferably by applying pyroxylin cement to the roughened upper and outsole at the heel seat portion of the shoe and to the attaching face of the heel, the cement after it is dried being activated on one or both of the parts with a suitable softener after which the heel is applied to the heel seat portion of the shoe and held under pressure while the cement is setting. This provides-a heel attachment which is thoroughly adequate for many types of shoes though if the shoe is to have an extremely high wood heel it may be advisable to reinforce the cement fastening with, for example, a flat head wood screw inserted from the inside of the shoe and having its head substantially flush or slightly below the exposed surface of the insole and covered ordinarily by the usual sock lining or heel pod.

From the above it will be apparent that my invention in its various aspects includes an improved shoe, improvements in methods of manufacturing shoes, an improved method of attaching heels to shoes, and an improved heel prepared for cement attachment.

The illustrated shoe is provided with the usual metal shank stiffener which, instead of being secured to the insole by tacks in accordance with usual practice, has its rear end retained by a filler piece secured in the heel seat portion of the shoe. This filler piece, which may be made of hard fibre board, is preferably approximately U-shaped in outline to conform to and be received within the area bounded by the edge of the overlasted portion of the shoe upper at the heel seat of the shoe. Preferably, also, it is secured by cement to the insole of the shoe with the rear end of the shank piece received in a recess formed in the forward end of the filler piece. Thus the shank piece is held securely in place in the shoe without the presence of metallic fastenings. This construction, however, is not claimed herein since it forms the subject-matter. of Letters Patent No. 2,008,697, granted July 23, 1935,

upon a divisional application, Serial No. 693,174,

filed October 11, 1933.

With the above and other objects and features in view the invention will now be described with reference to the accompanying drawings and pointed out in the claims.

In the drawings,

Fig. 1 is a perspective view of an insole suitable for use in the manufacture of shoes in accordance with the present invention;

Fig. 2 is a perspective and cross sectional view of the toe portion of another insole which may be used;

Figs. 3 and 4 illustrate the side lasting of shoes using the insoles of Figs. 1 and 2 respectively;

Fig. 5 is a perspective view showing the bottom of a shoe in the course of manufacture in accordance with the present invention, after the completion of the lasting but before the removal of clamp members which are used to hold the upper at the toe and heel seat portions of the shoe in lasted position while the cement by which it is to be permanently secured is setting;

Fig. 6 is a transverse view through the heel seat portion of the-shoe of Fig. 5;

Fig. 7 is a perspective view illustrating particularly the shoe bottom after it has been lasted, with the overlasted portion of the upper roughened, the sole attaching cement also being indicated at one side of the shoe;

Fig. 8 is a perspective view of the shoe showing the manner in which a shank piece may be se cured in place by means of a filler piece;

Fig. 9 is a perspective view on a larger scale of the fillerpiece;

Fig. 10 is a perspective view, partly in section, illustrating the shoe after its outsole has been cement attached;

Fig. 11 is a perspective view of a wood heel ready for cement attachment to the shoe; and

Fig. 12 is a perspective view with the heel in section and partly removed to show the condition of the heel seat portion of the shoe.

In the manufacture of shoes in accordance with the present invention the shank and forepart may be lasted as disclosed in Letters Patent No. 2,017,856 referred to above. Thus the insole 20, as illustrated particularly in Figs. land 3, may be of leather channeled inwardly from its edge face to form a feather surface 22 parallel to its bottom face and of a width equal to the amount it is desired to have the lasted'upper overlie the insole. The feather of the insole at the forward portion of the shank and at the forepart of the shoe may be, for example, of an inch to of an inch wide. At the portion of the shank adjacent to the heel breast line the channel may advantageously be extended inwardly a little further so, as toxallow for the flange of the counter. The channel cut is preferably spaced from the outer face of the insole a distance substantially equal to the thickness of the upper materials which are to be used; The'channel flap is turned upwardly to form a lip 24, the outer portion of the flap being trimmed 011, preferably simultaneously' with the channeling operation, to reduce the height of the lip. To facilitate the turning of the channel flap upwardly to form a lip 24 the toe portion of the flap may be snipped off,

as indicated at 30 (Fig. 1). The forepart of the insole may be made more flexible, if, desired, by forming therein the usual slashes 28. In order to stiifen' the shank and heel part of the insole it may be slit from its rear end to a point some-' what to the rear of its ball line, as illustrated in Fig. 1, and a piece of fibre board 32 inserted between the slit portions and secured in place by cement, for example by latex adhesive. For further details as to themanufacture of the insole the reader is referred to said Letters Patent No. 2,017,856.

Another type of insole adapted for use in the manufacture of shoes in accordance with the present invention is illustrated at 33 in Figs. 2

and 4. .The marginal portion 34 of this insole is not reduced in thickness but the insole is provided with an inside channel 36. the channel flap being raised, as indicated at 38, to form an inside lip to which the shoe upper is lasted.

The insole 20 or 33 is tacked in the usual way to a last 40 and a shoe upper 42 is assembled and pulled over in any appropriate manner. After this the shoe is side lasted, for example with the aid of a staple side lasting machine of the character disclosed in Letters Patent of the United States No. 1,796,451, granted March 17, 1931. In performing this opeartion cement, preferably water dispersed rubber cement of the character commonly spoken of as latex adhesive, is applied to the portion of the insole outwardly of the lip 24 or 38, from the tip line to the heel breast line, and to the lasting allowance of the various layers of the upper materials which are to be caused to adhere to the insole and to each other along the sides of the shoe from the tip line to the heel breast line, care being taken that cement is not applied to the lining beyond theline where A it will be engaged by the edge of the insole when,

the upper is brought into lasted position since such cement might be visible in thecompleted shoe.

After the cement has thus been applied the A I mechanism of a side-lasting machine. Thus, the

upper is side lasted and staples 56 driven through the upper 42 and the lip 24 or 38 of the insole, the legs of the staples being clenched at the back of the lip, as indicated at 60 in Fig. 5. These staples, it should be noted, serve merely to hold the upper in lasted position while the cement is setting and are subsequently removed by trimming off the marginal portion of the upper and the lip of the insole. This side lasting operation is more fully described in the above-mentioned patents Nos. 1,932,545 and 2,017,856, to which reference may be had for further details.

If desired-the toe portion also may be lasted in the fashion just described. Preferably, however, the toe portion is lasted with the aid of a bed lasting machineof the usual type. Thus the side lasted shoe is placed in the bed lasting machine, the pulling over tacks are removed, and the upper about the toe of the shoe is wiped upwardly and inwardly over themarginal portion of the insole by the toe wipers of the machine. The wipers are then backed off and the operator separates the outer layer of the upper, for example the upper leather,

from the remainder of the upper materials at the a toe and with a hand knife trims off the latter ma terials substantially flush with the plane of the being thus carried in over the feather of the insole and against the lip 24 or 38 as the case may be, pressing the cemented surface of the upper and the insole firmly together. A binder of the character disclosed in Letters Patent of the United States No. 2,004,239, granted June 11, 1935, on an application filed in the name of Isabelle W-.Goddu, executrix of the will of George Goddu, deceased, is then applied to the overlasted upper to hold it in position while the cement is setting. This binder, illustrated at 62, in Fig. 5, is shaped to conform approximately to the toe of the shoe, having, as illustrated, the form 01' a v with a flange 66 of the binder to force the inner marginal portion of the upper against the lip of the insole. To hold the binder 62 in this position after the wipers are withdrawn an approximately T-shaped lever 66 is employed. This has a cross portion 68 which engages the top of the flange lit at opposite sides of the shoe to apply downward pressure to the two sides of the binder, the ends of the cross bar being preferably turned down somewhat to engage the outer wall of the flange to prevent the flange from slipping from be'neaththe ends of the cross bar. The lever 66 is also supplied with a stem portion 10 having a number of tack receiving holes I2 through one of which a tack It is driven to anchor the device'to the last.

The heel seat portion of the shoe is now to be lasted and this may be done, if desired, with the aid of the same bed lasting machine which is used for lasting the toe. After the wipers of the machine have been operated to wipe the marginal portion of the layers of the upper at the heel seatinto lasted relation they are withdrawn and pyroxylin cement is applied to the peripheral portion of the exposed surface of the insole at the heel seat of the shoe, to the inner surface of the outer layer of the upper and to both surfaces of the other layers including the counter. The wipers are again operated and then withdrawn sufficiently to permit the insertion of a bi der 13 similar to that used at the toe of the s oe but shaped to conform to the outline-of the heel seat portion of the shoe. This binder is provided with an upper engaging flange l5 and an upstanding flange l5 extending therefrom preferably at an angle somewhat less than a right angle, as shown in Fig. 6. The binder I3 is secured in position by means of a lever 66 in precisely the manner described with respect to the toe binder 62 and serves to retain the shoe parts under pressure while the cement at the heel seat is setting.

After the cement has set the tacks it, the levers 66 and the binders 62 and 13 are removed and the surplus" upper material, as well as the lip of the insole, is trimmed ofi leaving the shoe bot-' tom entirely free from metallic fastenings since the staples 56 are removed with the stock into which they were driven.

While it should be understood that the outsole may be attached by through-and-through stitching at the shank and forepart and even, if desired, at the heel seat, as illustrated herein the outsole is cement attached. The overlasted marginal portion of the upper is now roughened, as indicated diagrammatically by the approximately parallel lines at 89 in Fig. 7, and pyroxylin cement is applied, as indicated by the stippling at 82 in Fig. '7, to the overlasted marginal portion of the shoe upper and also to the heel-seat portion of the insole.

In order to secure the shank-piece 84 (Figs. 8 and without the presence of metallic fasten ings and at the same time to fill up the U-shaped space inwardly of the overlasted marginal portion of the shoe upper at the heel seat portion of the shoe, a filler piece 86 is provided. This may be of hard flbre or other suitable material having an approximately U-shaped outline, as best shown in Fig. 9, to conform to the. space within which it is to be received and molded or otherwise shaped to provide a recess 88 at its forward portion for, the reception of the rear end of the shank piece. The dry" cement atthe heel seat portion of the insole is activated with a suitable softener, for example such a softener as that disclosed in Letters Patent of the United States No. 1,959,320 or No. 1,959,321, granted May 15, 1934, on applications filed in the name of Walter H. Wedger. The insole engaging surface of the filler piece 86 is also coated with pyroxylin cement and the filler piece is secured in position, covering and holding the rear end of the shank piece M, by tacks which are preferably toed inwardly the better to hold the filler piece while the cement is setting. After the cement has set the tacks 90 are withdrawn and the exposed surface of the filler piece is coated with pyroxylin cement which is allowed to dry. The outsole 92 is then cement attached in known fashion, any suitable filler being used at the forepart of the shoe as may be desired. Instead, however, of cement attaching the outsole only forwardly of the heel breast line, as has heretofore been the usual practice, the outsole is cement attached about its entire periphery, including the area of the heel seat portion, the shoe then being in the condition shown in Fig. 10. It will be seen that the heel seat portion of the shoe, as well as the shank and forepart, is entirely free from metallic or other driven fastenings. In order to preserve this condition the heel also may be, and as illustrated is, attached without the presence of metallic fastenings. Any usual type of wood, leather or leather substitute heel, either with or without a rubber section or top lift, may be utilized. As illustrated herein, the shoe is provided with a wood heel 9t having a cover 96 of leather. The heel seat portion of the shoe is fitted for the reception of the wood heel in accordance with the usual practice. As illustrated herein, the heel seat fitting operation is performed after the outsole has been attached. If preferred, however, the heel seat portion of the outsole may be fitted before the sole is attached in which case it may or may not be necessary to trim the breast receiving shoulders or abutmen'ts of the outsole after the sole has been attached in order to get a satisfactory flt. The peripheral portion of the attaching surfaceof the heel including, if the heel is of wood with a leather cover. the portion of the heel cover which overlies the attaching surface of the heel, is roughened and the attaching surface of the heel coated with pyroxylin cement which is allowed to dry. The fitted heel seat portion of the shoe is roughened, if necessary, to provide a surface suitable for the reception of pyroxylin cement though in the case of Louis heel work, in which a heel breast covering flap 98 has been split from the heel seat portion of the shoe, the roughening operation may not be necessary. The heel seat portion of the shoe is then coated with pyroxylin cement which is allowed to dry, the cement on the heel seat portion of the shoe and/or the attaching surface of-the heel is activated ,with a suitable softener, and the heel put in place and held under pressure while the cement sets. After the cement has set, the pressure maintaining device,

whether a clamp o'ra screw inserted as disclosed in Letters Patent of the United States No. 1,615,258, granted January 25, 1927, on an application filed in the name of Maurice V. Bresnahan, is removed. The heel breast flap, if the shoe has a Louis heel, is cemented in place in the customary way and the shoe finished in accordance with the usual practice.

While, as herein disclosed, the shoe bottom is entirely free from metallic or other driven fastenings as well as stitching, it should be understood that in various of its aspects the invention is not limited to such a shoe. Many of the benefits of such a shoe are characteristic also of a shoe the bottom of which is free from metallic fastenings but the outsole attached by stitching. Moreover, particularly in the case of a shoe having a very high heel, a flat head wood screw may be inserted through the central portion of the heel seat into the heel, thus serving as a reinforcement for the heel attaching cement, without substantially detracting from the smooth unblemished insole surface. The head of such a screw will be substantially flush with, preferably slightly beneath, the surface of the insole and will not detract from the comfort of the shoe. Unless such a screw is used there is no necessity for a heel pod or sock lining though, if desired, one or the other may be used in accordance with current practice.

Having thus described the invention what is claimed as new and is desired to be secured by Letters Patent of the United States is:

1. That improvement in methods of attaching heels to shoes which comprises roughening the overlasted marginal portion of the shoe upper at the heel seat portion of the shoe, roughening the portion of the cover of the wood heel which will overlie the attaching face of the sole, and attaching to each other with pyroxylin cement the roughened surface of the heel cover and the roughened surface of the shoe upper.

2. That improvement in methods of attaching heels to shoes which comprises roughening the overlasted marginal portion of a shoe upper at the heel seat portion thereof, fitting the heel seat portion of the sole for the reception of a wood heel and providing that portion of the sole with a surface to which cement will efiectively adhere, roughening that portion of the cover of a wood heel which overlies the attaching face of the heel, and cement attaching the heel to the heel seat portion of the shoe without the presence of metallic fastenings.

3. A heel having a cover the marginal portion of which is turned over against the attaching face of the heel, the peripheral portion of the cover at the attaching face of the heel being roughened for the reception of cement.

4. A wood heel having a leather cover the marginal portion of which is turned over against the attaching face of the heel, the exposed surface of said overturned marginal portion being roughened for the reception of cement.

5. That improvement in methods of making shoes which comprises roughening at least the heel seat portion of the overlasted margin of a shoe upper, attaching a sole to the shoe, thereby covering the roughened upper at the heel seat, fitting the heel end of the attached sole for the reception of a wood heel, thereby exposing the roughened upper at the heel seat, and then attaching a wood heel to the exposed, roughened upper with pyroxylin cement.

6. A shoe having the peripheral part of its heel seat portion roughened, and a heel having the peripheral portion of its attaching face roughened and attached to the of the heel seat with pyroxylin.

7. A shoe having the overlasted marginal portion of its upper at the heel seat portion of the shoe roughened, an attached sole the heel end of which is fitted for the reception of a heel and roughened, and a heel having the peripheral portion of its attaching face roughened and attached to the heel seat portion of the shoe with pyro ylin.

8. A shoe having a covered heel with the marginal portion of its cover turned over against its attaching face, roughened, and attached to the heel seat of the shoe with pyroxylin.

9. A shoe having a leather covered wood heel with the marginal portion of its leather cover turned over against its attaching face, roughened, and attached to the overlasted upper around the heel seat portion of the shoe with pyroxylin.

ISABELLE W. GODDU,

Executrza: of the Will of George Goddu, Deceased.

roughened part 

